November 2017 Legislative Update

I need to apologize for not doing a legislative update every month however, it seems like there hasn’t been enough time in the day to get everything done. So here is the latest update for November.

On Tuesday Nov. 28, 2017, the Badger State Sheriff’s Association and WI Sheriff’s & Deputy Sheriff’s Association held their monthly joint Legislative Committee meeting hosted by Sheriff Gaffney in Marquette County. It had been over a year since we all met in person and BSSA Legislative Chair, Sheriff Podoll, and I thought it would be a good idea to have an in person meeting. Having said that, here is a brief update of what was discussed at the meeting with the BSSA Legislative Committee and Caty McDermott, from the Hamilton Consulting Group.

Protective Status Bill: This bill has been introduced in the Senate however, has not yet been introduced in the Assembly. A copy of that bill can be found here. Hopefully there will be a committee hearing on this soon and there will be some movement on this bill however, the legislative session is quickly coming to a close and time is not on our side. (SB577)

Asset Forfeiture: WS&DSA is still opposed to this bill. This bill is available for a vote in the Senate however, there has been no movement in the Assembly on this bill. A copy of this bill can be found at this link. (Substitute Amendment SB 61)

WRS Changes: There is no new information on his bill since the last report. No committee hearing has been scheduled. There has been no movement on this bill since it was introduced. (SB190)

Survivor’s Benefits: This bill is at a standstill. The Assembly has not done anything with this bill since it was introduced. The Senate has passed this bill in the last three sessions but won’t do anything more with it until the Assembly decides to move on it. (SB97)

Sanctuary Cities: There has been no action in the Assembly on this bill. It has passed out of the Senate Committee and is available for a vote in the Senate. (SB275)

Those are the “Priority Issue Bills” we have been monitoring closely. There are numerous other bills both committees from WS&DSA and BSSA are monitoring however, there isn’t much more to report on the other issues.

If you have any questions on any of these bills or others, don’t hesitate to contact myself or one of the committee members and we can hopefully answer your questions. If not, we can usually find the answer.

I hope everybody has a safe and happy Christmas and New Year and I will post more information on this page when it becomes available.